Running Down a Dream

Over the past 2 weeks I’ve been enjoying time with family and friends in the badlands of western ND and eastern MT. Good times on the blackborow, reading, sleeping in the hammock, rock hounding, cutting and polishing rocks, fixing gear, brewing sun tea and ginger ale, doing little projects around the places I’m staying, and just relaxing amongst the beautiful scenery! My computer time has been limited (by choice), except for some various projects associated with my geologic consulting business. Some camping has occurred along the way.. Speaking of books..I’ve been reading one or two a week, all on paper..my kindle seems to be missing at the moment. I had mentioned the “Sixth Extinction” in a prior post, but have been thinking more and more about observations the author had made. Humans are playing an odd experiment on earth that could have a larger impact than climate change..we and we alone have been transporting different species in the animal kingdom around the glob...

This past week I spent most of my time in the glaciated region of ND and MN, the prior post I was in the unglaciated portion of MN:) See my travel trail here:  http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0Tf21xYngxFDAbJGACZ5dMdVS2NB6uvxF Last Thursday I had the pleasure of biking part of the upcoming Wilderman off road ironman course in the Pembina Gorge. Starting on gravel, that didn't last long before we descended into the gorge, across the river, the a constant up and down navigating the atv trails that pass through the gorge. In a way it felt like I was in the black hills again, not many flat stretches out there. The blackborow's 5 inch tires made easy work of the mud, but punished me on the uphills with the extra weight, however I cruised down the hills. It was a fabulous ride! Thanks to END racing for allowing me to help out once again. Wish I could be there this weekend to race or help out but I'm headed west..good luck fellow racers and volunteers!...

My last week in Minnesota was filled with good times. Last Sunday (father’s day) we paddled 7 miles on the Root River, I was in my pack raft and friends were in kayaks. We paddled through shallow clear water surrounded by towering limestone bluffs filled with wildlife. There were few rapids and some scraping bottom but we made good time considering the conditions and an hour stop to swim and fish. Monday it rained early and postponed any work on the paver patio, so I made a roadtrip to Red Wing MN. Here I visited the wonderful organic store Simple Abundance and then stopped next door to my favorite book store: Fair Trade Books. Why Fair Trade, here are my reasons: 1) Fair Trade gives you a free book upon entering the store for the first time, 2) You can exchange your used books for credit and use them towards buying other used books in the store 3) The selection is ever changing based on how many trades are made, 4) The owners Rick and Faye are great people you may learn a thing o...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/133494881@N06/shares/kByCqw I finally set up a flickr account, and loaded it with all my Centennial trail photos, even I'm amazed I was able to take over 200 photos of the beautiful scenery! Now you too can see the various terrain that I encountered on a daily basis, it was ever changing, enjoy :)

17 days ago I finished my solo hike on the Centennial Trail, but I had so much fun and it was an incredible experience I still remember the trip like it was yesterday, hence the short story below, if it’s too long just enjoy the photos instead, turned out I had a lot of time to think out there and I really do love the area for its beauty and geology. It’s so easy to drift off in the day dream world as if I were still on the rugged and sacred trail in the middle of paha sapa (the black hills). On Saturday May 30 I arrived at the Alkali Creek trailhead, which is 15 miles south of the actual north trailhead located at Bear Butte. It was decided to start here and avoid the grasslands northeast of Sturgis, if I had extra time in the middle of my thruhike, I would explore more of the Black Elk Wilderness area. It was nearly 5pm when I arrived at Alkali Creek, I felt a bit out of place and was not properly prepared to take off on my 110+ mile journey, which I’d hoped to hike in 5 days. I...

It’s been 3 weeks since I turned on a computer, a deserved break indeed. Prior to the computer hiatus, I sold my house, resigned my position with the university (early retirement;) and have embarked on a journey to explore the great outdoors. I’ve successfully lived that dream thus far, staying in a tent more often than not, realizing its only been 3 weeks however a lot of ground has been covered. My first expedition began Saturday May 30, one day after quitting my desk job.. Motive: to backpack the Centennial Trail in the Black Hills. Next post will be a trail report including pictures of the journey, still working on downloading the gps tracks and elevation profile, but in short it was a rugged adventure more up than down, packing 35-40 lbs, and covering just under 20 miles a day on average for 6 days or 116 miles of trail, mostly alone. Since the Centennial trail, I attended the first annual Blue Ox bluegrass festival in Eau Claire, WI with a group of new and old friends. Was a...

So I did some parkour today, first time I've actually partook in a full 30 minute city session. This obstacle running based workout comes natural to me on a trail far away from paved and urbanized surfaces, however I was impressed with this new way (to me) of seeing and leveraging an urban area. Utilizing the greenway as a warmup and first set of obstacles up and down stairs, over benches, up and down the dike several times (until feel like puking or passing out, and then one more;)..off to the parking garages up and down the ramps hoping over railings in stride, on to sidewalks with planters and large cement walls to finish with a skip back to the bikes! I'm not actually sure how much time passed, 20-30 minutes I suppose..enough time to jog a few miles, hit several high intensity intervals, and explore downtown Grand Forks. Turned out to be a great cross training outing with friends.